Twice the Choice
by Melkor44
Summary: Darth Vader's death is not so, and he gets sent back to his past instead. With the knowledge of the future, the chance to change his circumstances, and his younger self running amok, there's a lot to do. He's not the only one who got sent back, either; two Anakin Skywalkers are on the loose, and the same can be said for their loves. May the Force have mercy on us all... A/P and V/P
1. Chapter 1

**An idea I came up with a few days ago, but I'm just now starting it. I'm not sure how long this will be, but I'm likely to cap it at or before ten chapters...depending on whether or not my inspiration keeps up. For reference: when I'm talking about "Vader," I mean "Anakin who went back in time." When I just say "Anakin," it means the canon Anakin whose destiny is about to get royally butchered.**

**Summary: Darth Vader, formerly Anakin Skywalker, is the Chosen One whose destiny is to bring balance to the Force. He is so powerful, and so steeped in the mysterious abilities that the life-energy gives him, that his death is very much the opposite: he travels back in time. Returned to life as Anakin Skywalker, how will the galaxy be affected by the presence of two Chosen Ones?**

* * *

He doesn't know what's going on. One second he's staring at his son, dying, the pain leaving his body at long last; in the next instant, there's black darkness. From that point on, all he knows is that he's woken up on Tatooine. He's free of his mask and armor, no longer burn-coated or vulnerable to almost any force of nature. Strangely enough, he feels at peace with himself.

He looks just like he did on the day before Obi-Wan destroyed him, dressed in black robes of near-royal finery and with a dark handsomeness to his body. The scar is still there as well, on the upper right side of his face. His omnipresent scowl is nowhere to be seen, replaced instead by a broad smile. If this is a dream, or the netherworld of the Force, perhaps it won't be so bad after all. He stands, feeling phantom pains in the joints that he's grown used to being mechanical, and wants to laugh out loud. Perhaps the ancient civilizations of the splintered Intergalactic Republic, from which the human species had migrated to this galaxy and spread like wildfire, were right about the afterlife. Maybe you just lived out your death like you would do with your life!

A woman enters through the door of the room, then, and all thought of that stops. "Mother." The word is near-silent, but Shmi Skywalker's ears pick it up just as easily as the warnings of a desert storm.

"Young man." She raises an eyebrow at him, realizing that he's not actually _that _much younger than she is right now...or, at least, he doesn't look it. "Who are you talking to?"

"You." He responds, trying to come up with some plausible reason why his own mother wouldn't remember him. "But...I wonder what happened? One minute I was dying, and now I'm here. What year is it?"

Her response shocks him: it's the same year as...

"Oh, Force. Please tell me I didn't somehow go back in time. _Please_."

"Why? What year should it be?"

"...more than forty years later than it is. Please, mother, you have to believe me!"

"Even if I did, what would Anakin...younger Anakin...think?"

That presents an interesting problem. His presence hasn't erased his younger self's, so what does that mean? How should he approach the child who is him, the him who is a child? What course of action is right or wrong, or is there a "correct" answer at all? And what about the others who would no doubt come? Considering his luck, today would be the day that Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Padmé show up.

He hears them outside of the room and mentally groans; he just _had _to tempt fate, didn't he?

"This is how we'll do it, then." He offers up. "I'm his older brother, who's been serving Jabba the Hutt until recently. I went into his service before Anakin was born, and you named him after me."

It's incredibly distant from being a solid plan, particularly because he knows Qui-Gon Jinn to be far more than a non-observant Jedi who does his business and is blind to all else. It's all that Vader can come up with, however, because he has neither the time nor the patience to do anything else.

"Anakin, there's actually someone here to see you." Shmi calls, and her young son looks up at her with confusion.

"Who would be here?" He asks, in all his childish innocence, and Vader has to suppress a small smirk. Did he really sound like that when he was younger?

"It's your older brother. He's been let go from Jabba the Hutt's service, and I thought that he'd died. You're actually named after him."

Vader steps out, a soft smile on his face as he sees his younger self. "Hey, Anakin. I'm Anakin." That's when he does a head-count; Qui-Gon, a young Obi-Wan, Padmé, a younger version of Padmé, and his smaller self...wait a minute, what the hell? Why are there two-

He stops his train of thought while it's still boarding, forcing himself to not draw the red-bladed lightsaber that he can feel on his hip. That Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan have no doubt already seen, or sensed, because of a careless moment in his entry.

"Hey, Anakin. I'm Anakin." His younger self responds, with no mocking intent behind his voiced words.

"Why don't you introduce me to your friends?"

The boy perks up, but looks at Qui-Gon first. As the man nods, Vader allows himself to smile inwardly; the Jedi Master already trusts him, but is still wary. He's seen through the hastily-constructed lie, but doesn't much care one way or another so long as his apprentice or the Naboo royals remain unthreatened.

"This is Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan! They're Jedi! And then there's these two, the Queens of Naboo! They were going to Coruscant, but had to land here because they need to repair their ship. I was saying that I'm a really good pilot, and I've competed in podraces before, so if I win then they can get the money they need to leave and I'll still have enough left over to buy freedom for mom and me!"

"Oh? That's interesting." Vader's eyes twinkle in the light, catching the elder woman's, and he wants to give a true smile when he sees the recognition in her. "Come to think of it, you wouldn't need to do that. I worked for Jabba the Hutt; just saying that will be enough to get you whatever you need, so long as you don't tell them that I've stopped working for him."

Anakin gives a pout, though he knows that his "older brother" is right about that. "But I really wanted to race! I know that I can win this time!"

"I'm sure you could, little brother. If you're anything like me, you're a great pilot and just kinda good with machines."

The rest of dinner is filled with talk, of lies about what Vader did in Jabba's service.

* * *

"Alright, Anakin." Qui-Gon speaks. He is outside, on the house's balcony, with Vader and Obi-Wan. "If that's even your real name."

"It is." Vader cedes. "Though, to be honest, I haven't heard anyone call me that in a very long time."

"Very well then...who exactly are you, and why is it that you're carrying a lightsaber?"

"That is a very long and lengthy tale, Master Qui-Gon Jinn." He drops the man's surname, letting on that he knows more than he was told. If nothing else, it will stall for a few seconds. "It involves you, to a minor degree, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in much more detail. Rest assured, it involves the elder of those Naboo girls as well."

"Get on with it." Obi-Wan demands, and Vader can only help himself to the smile that comes.

"Very well then, Padawan Kenobi...but rest assured, this will take most of the night."

He tells the pair all of his entire life, from the time where they are now until his death. He doesn't care what it might do to the galaxy; he has returned, in all of his fully-human glory...including the arm that Dooku took off so long ago, and yet so far in the future. They are at times confused, mistrusting, disbelieving, appalled, and shocked. When he tells them of how he single-handedly destroyed the Jedi Order, Obi-Wan is ready to slaughter him. Imparting the knowledge of Alderaan's destruction, and of the Death Star, Qui-Gon's eyes are wide.

"I know it is unbelievable. Were our roles reversed, I wouldn't trust a word of it either...and, that having been said, this lightsaber is my only proof that it happened."

He ignites it before turning the power off, and the colored glow is unmistakable: a red lightsaber, the weapon of the Sith Lords.

"Now, with that over, I think I'll get a few hours of sleep before the twin suns start to rise again."

He turns around, walking inside, when he hears the telltale thrum of the Jedi weapon. Obi-Wan charges, attempting to run Vader through, believing that it is his duty as a Jedi to eliminate the Sith Lord that stands in front of him. His blade gets closer, and closer, but never reaches all the way; it's stopped by a wall of the Force, one that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon combined could not possibly hope to break at this point, and he raises a fist. The Padawan chokes on nothingness for a few seconds before Vader sets his future master down, leaving the teen gasping for breath.

"If you will excuse me, master Jedi, I would like to see my wife." He glances down, giving an apathetic stare before leaving the balcony. He does not revel in his power, as he might have when he was a younger man, but cannot deny that it feels good to set the boy straight as to who is more powerful. "And don't worry. I'll fix the ship by hand if I need to."

He enters into one of the upper floor's guest rooms, where one of the versions of Padmé sleeps. He can tell that this is _his _Padmé, his wife and only love. She looks as she did in the days before her untimely death, regally beautiful and powerfully in her prime. He lays down beside her, looking at her left hand for confirmation that this really was his wife and that he hadn't been tricked by the near-exactness of her younger self...and he smiles, holding her tightly.

"I'll never let go again, Padmé."

Her only response is to back into him, putting his chest flush against her back.

"I was blinded by pride and fear, and I let my emotions get in the way of my peace. I was angry at my lack of knowledge, trying to save you, but I only became more ignorant towards you and your wellbeing as time went by. I hated that the people I loved all seemed against me, when it was really me who was against the serenity they tried to give me. Everything seemed random and unorganized, disjointed, but I suffered because I couldn't see the harmony of the whole over the chaos of the few. You died because of the Force, but the Force brought us back together. I promise you, I'll never let go again..."

His words bring the ancient Jedi creed to his mind, as well as words which Yoda often said:

_Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering._

_There is no emotion. There is peace._

_There is no ignorance. There is knowledge._

_There is no passion. There is serenity._

_There is no chaos. There is harmony._

_There is no death. There is the Force._

For the love of all that he holds dear, he cannot allow history to repeat itself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Back, with chapter two...and I'm not one to beg, but feedback would be nice. Especially since this is a continuing fic, rather than a oneshot. Anyone who follows my Naruto story, _Reign In Blood: A Song of Severed Spirits_, don't worry; it'll stay on its usual Sunday/early-morning Monday once-a-week release schedule.**

**Let's get this trainwreck moving.**

* * *

As it turned out, using Jabba the Hutt's name _did _get you almost anything. Watto had gladly given all needed wares to the Jedi after meeting Vader, though the Sith Lord had been sure to pay him for them; call it a sense of gratitude. After all, he wouldn't have escaped in this past were it not for his vast knowledge of machinery.

He rolls out from under the damaged craft, lifting himself off of the board and placing his wrench down. "All the cosmetic stuff is done, so we just need to bind the cables and wires together. Normally, that would normally take another day or two, but..." Vader looked to the pair of Jedi across from him. "We have some capable Force-users with us."

It goes unspoken that he is also one who wields the Force. As the Chosen One, as Darth Vader and as a man who has spent his lifetime studying and using the invisible energy, his vise-like grip on the Force is unquestionable. While Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan reach out with no great amount of subtlety, Darth Vader merely flicks his finger or rolls his eyes in order to accomplish what they must do together...having the power of being spawned by midi-chlorians tends to give near-unmatched control over the Force, with the exception of Yoda, and Vader is free to abuse that here.

The engine comes to life with a sudden roar, and the majority of the people in their group board the ship; among them are Anakin and his mother, who have had their slave-chips removed by Vader himself. While the Jedi obey their strange moral code of uninvolvement unless hired, the Sith Lord has no such compulsion and instead takes pity on his mother and younger self...and the only ones who fail to board the ship are the Jedi, as well as Vader. They know what's coming, thanks to the warning of the past, and it allows for them to get the drop on Darth Maul as he arrives.

Five lightsaber blades are ignited, and Vader must give the Sith apprentice credit; not many can stand up to him alone in a lightsaber duel, let alone two others who fight with him. The man does, however, his anger showing. There were supposed to be two Jedi, one a Knight and the other a Padawan! It was supposed to be easy, or as easy as killing a Jedi could be! Nothing was ever said about a _Sith _who was protecting the Queen of Naboo, especially one who used a blade that was as tall as he was!

After half a minute of confrontation, Maul leaps back and calls his speeder to himself. He can't stand up to this level of fighting for much longer, no matter his training, and so he runs. Vader could pull the vehicle back, or at least stall it, but that would accomplish very little. After all, he doesn't care who knows about him. Hell, Palpatine could always try to rout him; Vader would welcome the challenge that his former master might present, now that he has no fear of death and holds the confidence that he would win.

In any case, they manage to take off with no problems. The journey through hyperspace is fairly quick, though it takes Vader a second to remember that the bane of his existence awaits on Coruscant: the Jedi Council. Yoda, at least, has no doubt already sensed a disturbance in the Force; of that, Vader is certain. What he does not know, however, is whether they will manage to arrive before word of his existence reaches Palpatine. Similarly, he wonders about his younger self's fate...what will happen? Will he be given to his "older brother" to train? Will the Council still deny him?

He'll find out soon enough, he tells himself.

* * *

Unlike last time, Palpatine isn't waiting for them when they arrive. He's likely in his office, Vader assumes, plotting this "new" Sith Lord's death. Perhaps he'll even invite Vader over.

"Master Qui-Gon, young Kenobi, Queen Amidala..." Mace Windu sees Shmi, Anakin, the elder Padmé and Vader, but cannot come up with a suitable phrase for them. "Honored guests. Welcome to Coruscant."

Yoda looks to Vader, and something in his eyes connects; this is either the Yoda from the future, from his time, or the aged Jedi Master has drawn the correct conclusion that Vader is the cause of the Force's disturbance. Either way, Vader cannot bring himself to care. Perhaps he'll get his first chance to cross blades with the ancient humanoid whose stature belies his true power...but, then again, perhaps not. It wouldn't be that bright of an idea to attack the Jedi, after all, especially when that was the cause of all his problems in the first place.

"Yes, welcome. Welcome you I do, all and one. Though with you," Yoda raises his cane to point at Darth Vader, and it's all the Sith can do to repress a smirk. "I would in private speak. How went your mission?"

"Successful at long last, Master Yoda." So this _is _the Yoda from his time, but he replaced his past self instead of forming alongside it. "I'll give you more details about it later."

"Master Yoda, you know this man?" Mace Windu questions, shooting a concerned glance at the diminutive creature before his gaze locks on Vader's.

"Know him I do, very well. Jedi Knight Skywalker, this is, though red his lightsaber is colored. Brave and powerful he is, though rash he can be."

"I'd like to think that those qualities have left me, Master Yoda." Vader responds. "Over the course of my journey, and the many years it's taken me, I believe that I am now almost fully adherent to the Jedi path."

That was, of course, almost a lie. He was still in love with Padmé, his wife and only love; he had no second thoughts about manipulating the Force for personal reasons; most of all, he could say that he had become (and still was, he might argue if he was pushed,) the greatest Jedi-killer in history. But that's what the half-truths and riddles were for: deception that could not be detected, because it wasn't entirely true or false.

Vader turns and claps a hand down on Anakin's shoulders, smiling. "Bet you didn't think your brother was a Jedi, huh? I'll see you around, Ani."

His Padmé follows him, while the younger one stays with Shmi and Anakin; Shmi looks at her "elder" son as he walks away, unknowing of what will happen, but she's more than willing to bet that he'll be at the epicenter of the galaxy's future.

Vader, meanwhile, follows Yoda on a path that he knows very well. It leads to a duel chamber, where students and Padawans could challenge one another without doing their opponents any true harm. Sometimes the Jedi who had disputes with one another would settle them here...Once they are inside, Yoda throws a practice-saber to Vader and takes one for himself. "Settle this here, we will, Darth Vader. When sent back I was, prepared I should have been for your arrival. Ready yourself!"

The Jedi Master leaps forward, levitating with the power of the Force; it's something that Vader couldn't do, even if he tried, as he is simply too heavy. The practice blades crash against one another twice, thrice, five times. Ten times. Fifty times. In the span of a few seconds, they know that the other matches them evenly. Yoda drops, trying to get a kill-strike on Vader while he falls, but the Sith Lord is no fool. Even if Yoda has milennia on him, he has been out of practice for years...but Vader never allowed his skills to dull.

They push against one another with the Force, and Vader is slightly stronger. Yoda flies back, though he manages to avoid crashing into the wall, and moves his fist. A bullet-like punch of Force energy slams into Vader's gut, and he _does _hit the wall before unleashing a hell of lightning onto the field. It launches from his whole body, and speeds through his metal trappings; the heated wall is easy to escape from, though he notices that Yoda remains untouched...he refuses to let it irk him, however, and instead charges back into their battle. It's the most fun and entertainment that he's had in years, and he allows himself to sink into that joy while he fights against the Grand Master, the leader of the Jedi Council.

Dodge, slash, duck, kick, leap, spin-and-slash, block behind the back. Thrust, counter, parry, jab, guard, block, sweep. Slash, jab, switch hands and punch, switch back and slash, leap over sweep, slash again.

They're reading one another perfectly, relying on feelings instead of senses. If they were blindfolded, the results would still be the same; Darth Vader has never felt so alive, except in the moments before his death, before now. It excites him to know that there is someone who can rise up against him, truly fighting him on even ground. He pushes out with the Force once more, sending Yoda into the sky, before he steps back. "It seems we've developed an audience for ourselves, Master Yoda."

"Indeed we have, Anakin." Vader knows that Yoda only used his true name because they're no longer alone in the room.

The whole of the Council is standing there, along with his younger self, mother, Obi-Wan, and his Padmé...where the younger went to, he could not say. Several various Jedi are there as well; each of them is struggling, and many are failing, to keep their jaws from dropping in shock. Here stood a man unknown to them, young though he was, and he could hold his ground against Yoda in a lightsaber duel?

The only one who was unsurprised was Padmé, who simply smiled. This was her husband, her one-and-only, who she has known to have good somewhere inside of him. He hopes he hasn't disappointed her with his holding back, though he knows that Yoda was restricting himself as well; if the elderly Jedi had been serious about their fight, real lightsabers would have been used...not that it would have made too much of a difference, though Vader's blade would have been almost three times as long as Yoda's, given the way that they were essentially equals in combat. Vader did have the edge over the Jedi Master in the Force, but that was only in raw levels of power; Yoda was a much more finesse-oriented person, compared to the way that Vader simply steamrolled everything.

A difference of opinion, as it were.

* * *

"The Council hereby grants Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker the rank of Master and a seat on the Council. In addition, you are allowed to take your brother as a Padawan...you and Qui-Gon, as well as your apprentices, are to go to Naboo to end the fighting there."

"Yes, Masters." Qui-Gon, Vader, and Obi-Wan respond in unison. Anakin doesn't know what to say, so he simply stays silent; in the course of a few days he has met a Jedi, learned of a long-lost brother, been freed from slavery, learned that his brother was a Jedi as well, found out that his brother is as strong as Master Yoda, who leads the Council, and now fulfilled his dream of becoming a Jedi; it was all a little much, to be honest.

"Will the Queen and her body double be going with us?" Vader asks, attempting to get a sense of how hard he will need to fight.

"Yes."

He will need to fight very, very hard. He doesn't know what kind of impact will happen if people continue living when they should die, as Vader hopes to be the case with Qui-Gon Jinn, but he has a distinct feeling that premature deaths will alter the original timeline and his own memories.

"Very well, Masters." He replies, knowing and not truly caring about what will happen next...though not caring really means trying to change the outcome without truly looking to change the outcome.

That was an outright lie, though. He knows what will happen, and so it is up to him to ensure that neither Padmé's younger or older self, or either of his selves, dies. He has time to come up with a plan, though, so perhaps he'll manage to go on something better than the paper-thin tale that got him as far as here. He must continue on, as he did for so long, but a hand squeezes his as he boards the ship for Naboo; he is no longer alone, and never will be again.

He'll make sure of it this time.


	3. Chapter 3

**So here we are, with the third chapter. This will mark the end of The Phantom Menace, as far as this fic is concerned, so I'm looking at nine chapters at the moment. My only question is whether I should add a filler chapter to detail Anakin's training under Darth Vader, or extend either TCW or ROTS by one chapter? Should I have an extra chapter at all?**

**Right now I'm leaning towards making ROTS four chapters long, since that's my favorite of the saga...but if you guys want something else, tell me and I'll see if I can make it happen.**

**Let's get this trainwreck moving.**

* * *

Darth Vader has never been a particularly patient man, and his capacity for waiting has only decreased after two decades of getting whatever he wanted; anyone who had denied him had died very painfully, and he had tried to match their suffering to his own. He'd always failed, however, because he could not set their soul on fire and destroy them emotionally.

The same holds true here, as he near single-handedly holds off the advancing droid army from entering the capital city of Theed; his younger self is going into orbit by accident, and would no doubt succeed in destroying the transmitter that allowed the droids to function. His only companions were a handful of Naboo's military and a small group of Gungan advance troops. He mows through the droids, utilizing the Force in ways that he might not have considered when he was a different man...rising walls snap their heads off or allow for the military to shoot them down, short-range ground-based pulses send them flying back, and he uses the Force to fight hands-free; the lightsaber dives through droids in row after row before returning to his waiting hands, where he uses the Force to ignite the crystal again and let a torrent of flames fly from the tip of the lit blade.

More Gungans arrive, charging down the hill. They're being led by Boss Nass himself, and Vader knows it's his time to leave; the Gungan leader only decided to help after Vader coerced him into it, with a show of supreme power and ability in the Force, so he's not totally safe here.

That's when he feels the taint of the Dark Side slam against his senses, and knows what's coming. He runs forward, bursting through the palace as he goes, finding Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan about to chase after Darth Maul.

"Protect the Queen, I'll take him!"

"You can't, Master Skywalker! He's a-" Obi-Wan stops himself, looking down as he remembers Vader's tale back on Tatooine. "...and so are you."

"I was, Obi-Wan. Unless I fail to do what must be done, I will never again be a Sith Lord. Now, go!"

Qui-Gon and his young apprentice waste no time in listening, racing to reach the royal family and head off Nute Gunray...they hurry, as they need to, utilizing the Force in an attempt to move faster. Vader uses the Force himself, though he is punching holes in the ceilings above him so that he can reach Maul; bounding off of the falling stone and metal in order to propel himself forward. He quickly ascends floors, rising higher and higher until he is in the tallest room of the massive palace.

At long last, he faces the man whose visage haunted his early years of training in the Jedi Temple. A very large part of him wants revenge for Qui-Gon's first death, but Vader knows by now that he doesn't need to listen to it. He has a much better idea in mind, and knows exactly how to go about with doing what he must.

The Sith strikes first, however, and Vader is forced to respond. his gigantic blade hums, released from its nothingness, and Maul's eyes widen as he truly takes in the six feet of light and heat that threaten to slay him. He ignites the other end of his staff, beginning to launch into a series of blows that Vader defends against with varying levels of ease; while it's certainly difficult to fight against a man who wields two blades, it's not nearly as hard as fighting against a capable dual-wielder whose weapons have full autonomy. Vader lets a powerful strike fly from his hands, forcing Maul to break away; it's his first true mistake, and Vader is not so naive enough to not capitalize on it.

Powerful bursts of lightning leap from his fingers, and he levitates Maul while choking the life out of him. The man drops his lightsaber on the ground, where it deactivates, but Vader doesn't let up...much. He releases the pressure just enough for the man to begin breathing regularly, then allows himself to set the alien down and release the choking technique.

"We do not need to fight, Darth Maul."

"Who are you?" The voice is just as drippingly, venemously evil as he has always remembered, and Vader suppresses a shudder as childhood nightmares flash to the forefront of his mind.

_There is no emotion. There is peace._

He looks the Sith Lord directly in the eye, locking gazes with him. "I am the one man you should fear above all others. Darth Sidious is a shadow of my glory, a shade-wraith whose power cannot compare to my grip of the Force. I am Darth Vader."

His eyes flash yellow and his skin pales, both of them staying that way for several seconds. As Darth Maul stares into the eyes of a fellow Sith Lord, he feels true fear for the first time since he met Darth Sidious. As much as it pains him to give in to the mounting pressure, he knows that he will not survive if he refuses to cooperate. "Why are you here? What is your business with me?"

"You will tell me of Sidious' plans and purposes, other apprentices and deeper secrets. And after that, you will serve only me."

"...yes, Lord Vader."

"Leave this place at once, and never return unless I order it. I will contact you."

Maul bows before backflipping down, into the void, where he will go into hiding. Vader turns around, after a long pause of thought, and sinks through the hole that he previously made. His eyes return to blue, his skin to a healthy tan, and his mind is screaming at him; this wasn't his intention...though perhaps it's a better way than his original plan of simply killing Maul. This way, he can make his accusation of Palpatine seem easier, cleaner. More realistic.

Not that the rest of the Council will believe him, however, and he will certainly deal with Maul personally when the man loses his usefulness...so he'll need to find some other way of dealing with Sidious. One that doesn't involve the Sith, but the Jedi instead. Who would be able to do something like that, though? He'd certainly be able to do it, but didn't trust his emotions (or Darth Maul) enough to not give something away; Vader needs someone younger, more malleable. Someone that Palpatine would never expect, but who knows the absolute importance of their mission.

The realization of his plan hits him in full, and he can't help but scowl at the repetition of the past.

* * *

Anakin doesn't know what he's doing. If he's honest with himself, using language that he knows his mother would skin him alive for saying, he has absolutely no idea what the _hell_ his brother was trying to get him to do. He's good with ships and machines, but that's only when he's trying to fix them; he doesn't know how to fly this Naboo fighter! He's not good with fighters in general, except maybe to fix their engines!

"Artoo, I'm gonna need you to fly autopilot for me." He calls back to the small astro-droid, who beeps and whistles its consent. The burden of piloting lifted from his shoulders, he can focus on the thing that makes fighter ships interesting: their weapons. "Can you tell me what each weapon is?"

More beeps, whistles, and no doubt a flashing light or two later, Anakin has some level of knowledge on how to fight more effectively. Though he doesn't really understand how he can interpret the small robot's communication system, he chooses not to question it; it'll probably save his life some time or another, and it might be doing that now.

He presses down on the button to shoot his lasers, speeding up, allowing R2-D2 to steer and maneuver as necessary. He's taking out the droid ships left and right, though the going is admittedly much slower than his counterpart down on the planet's surface, and he can see a chance to move inside of the transmitter's bay. He goes for it, gunning forward, only for Artoo to make him somersault; had he continued, he would've rammed right into an oncoming Naboo fighter...and that was exactly what he needed not to do, according to his older brother. The man's words had been exactly: "Don't die. Don't shoot friends. Win." It wasn't exactly what he needed to hear, but it's probably what he'd have said in the Jedi Master's position.

"Red Six, Green Three, cover me! I'm going in!"

"Roger."

"Affirmative."

The two fighters, who had been the ones closest to him anyway, come to flank him as he makes his approach on the hangar entry. As they begin to break through the emerging enemies, Red Six speaks up. "You know what you're doing, kid?"

Anakin has to smile, because he knows that his plan is suicide. He was living on borrowed time anyway, he thinks, so there's not really a problem with dying here. Besides, the younger Padmé can survive this way. And his brother can get a new Padawan, one who's better than he'd ever be.

That train of thought doesn't make his idea any safer, only encouraging his recklessness...but it does give him some kind of purpose. He trusts his feelings and his instincts, like Qui-Gon and his brother have said to, and his feelings say that he needs to _rip these bastards a new one_.

"Yeah. Once I'm inside, I'll let off a missile right to the core!"

He's close now, and jets off before the older men can protest that he's too young to throw his life away. Artoo shrieks and whines, unable to brake, because Anakin's foot is still pressing down on the thruster pedal. He's sliding through the satellite, grinding against the floor thanks to a localized gravity field, mowing down droids who happen to stand in his way...and that's when he sees the core. Switching to reverse, he begins to back up; his hand moves to another button, this one all shiny and red and begging to be pushed, and looks back at Artoo.

"It was fun while it lasted, huh?"

He presses the button, and the missile screams on its way to hit the core.

* * *

The battle for Naboo was won with surprisingly few casualties for the victorious natives, though the same couldn't be said for Nute Gunray and his Trade Federation droids. Just as the alien had been about to fire on the elder Padmé, who'd taken up the post of the Queen's body double, Vader had arrived; such a thing as the Dark Lord's terrible, if momentary, fury should go unsaid...but that's never stopped anyone from saying anything about it before, and it won't now. He had deflected the blaster ray away, with a throw of his lightsaber, before picking the Separatist and all of his droids up with a single show of the Force's raw power.

This was one of his more useful techniques, and one that didn't rely on the Dark Side for its power. Vader had laughed as the droids crumbled in his grip, falling one by one, until only Nute Gunray was left to face the wrath of a man who had brought a galaxy to its knees with his power and their fear of it.

The would-be conqueror was now on his way to the Galactic Senate, where he would face a trial of his peers and likely be set free due to sympathetic or greedy politicians who wanted or needed the Trade Federation to ensure that they obtained necessary goods for their planets.

Vader, Qui-Gon, Anakin and Obi-Wan were all set to leave for Coruscant, with the elder Padmé going as well; she was to serve as Senator since Palpatine had become elected as Chancellor. The very thought left a bad taste in Vader's mouth, but there wasn't much that he could do about it at the moment other than take Anakin aside while they make the trip to the galaxy's center.

"Anakin."

"Yes, master?"

"I have a mission for you that you'll need to do for me. I need you to do it, because nobody else I know would be able to."

The boy perks up at that. "What is it?"

"Palpatine has just been elected Chancellor, and the Jedi Council doesn't trust him...including me. I need you to become friends with him so that he can trust you. Whatever secrets he says, especially if he mentions anything to do with the Sith, you will tell me."

"Yes, master. But isn't that treason?"

"I will not lie to you, Anakin: I suspect that our new Chancellor is secretly a Sith Lord, but I can't arrest him on the grounds of suspicion alone. I need proof, and that's where you come in."

"You don't think you can trap him into revealing himself, because you're a Jedi." Anakin reasons out his teacher's thinking. "But I'm just a student, so if he's a Sith then he'll think it's easier to turn me than you. He wouldn't suspect that a kid would be used as a spy."

"Exactly." Vader says. "So I need you to report on him, to me. If he's not a Sith, then everything is fine and you'll have gained a lifelong political ally. If I'm right, though, I'll deal with him...personally."

He's sure that Anakin notices the way his teeth are grit, his fist clenched, when he spits the last word like a bitter toxin. The boy has questions, no doubt, but they will go unanswered; if he ever learns the truth, that his brother and teacher is in fact his future self who returned after his failed attempt to save the galaxy the first time around...it's better if Vader doesn't follow that train of thought. He has his second chance, so he's going to ride it for all that it's worth. Come what may, he will save himself (and the galaxy, if possible) with his own two hands and lightsaber...but, first, there's something that needs to be taken care of.

Anakin needs to be trained in the Force, and the ways of the Jedi.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four, coming in hot.**

**This is for Chocolatam, who requested that I do a chapter that details Anakin's training under Vader.**

**Let's get this trainwreck moving.**

* * *

The boy is powerful. Vader knows as much; in a past life, a long time ago, he has been this very boy. The circumstances were different, but the effect was the same. Anakin Skywalker is uniquely gifted among the ranks of the Jedi. It is his gift, curse, fate and destiny, all rolled into one package, that he was to be the Chosen One who brought balance to the Force...in Vader's experience, however, that's hardly the case. He must teach the boy all that he knows, more than forty years of experience in the Force that his younger double will pick up with no small amount of work.

Strong the boy might be, but Vader knows that Anakin is not his equal. Not yet, anyway.

The Chancellor hasn't given any true information away; of that, Vader is certain. Though the boy is just a child, he knows the particulars of his on-the-side, off-the-books mission. He would not lie to his elder brother, or to the Jedi Council, and that is how it must stay.

He teaches Anakin in the way that he knows Anakin wants (and needs) to be taught: hands-on application. Theory comes later, usefulness comes first. He has shown how to fix ships, how to manipulate objects, and how to create moving walls of Force. He's in the process of teaching more subtle manipulations, of the body and mind.

"Trust your instincts, not your feelings. Trusting your feelings is the path to the Dark Side of the Force, Anakin, and your instincts can save lives. Don't believe in your power, but in the power of the Force. That is how you do what you do."

"Yes master."

"Try again."

Anakin waves his hand, and Vader attempts to gauge the level of power behind the motion. "You will promote me to the rank of Jedi Knight."

"You're being too specific, and I don't have that kind of power. Try in another five years or so." Anakin is seventeen now, and it's been eight years since the training has started. Vader has made no secret of his relationship with Padmé, not even to the Council, but only Anakin realizes that their bond goes deeper than simple "friends with benefits" that Vader has managed to pull over everyone's eyes.

"You will tell me the truth."

For a moment, Vader is stunned; the question is so blatant, so pure, that he has trouble believing that Anakin actually asked him...but he will answer truthfully. He ignores the voice in the back of his mind, one that tells him that the boy actually succeeded in obliterating Vader's mental walls of iron-and-evil power for the precious few seconds that it would take to convince him to turn the tide of battle.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything. Who you really are, why you're as strong as Grabd Master Yoda...your past, your training..."

"I am Anakin Skywalker, son of Shmi Skywalker, father of Luke and Leia Skywalker, husband of Padmé Amidala. I am forty-nine years old. I was trained as a Padawan under Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. In my desire to protect my wife I fell to the Dark Side, becoming a Sith Lord called Darth Vader. I was heralded as the Chosen One, who would bring balance to the Force, but slaughtered the Jedi Order by myself. The only survivors were Jedi Grand Master Yoda and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I killed Darth Sidious and was killed by him, but have somehow been sent back in time."

"I asked for answers, master, not to be mocked like a child." Anakin grumbles. Clearly, he doesn't believe his master's tale...not that Vader doesn't blame him, since it sounds like something Anakin himself would have come up with in an attempt to impress his Padmé...

Vader doesn't condone their relationship, as it were, but chooses to turn a blind eye in the same way that Obi-Wan did for him. The younger versions of the couple are starting a few years earlier than their original counterparts, but perhaps that's not such a bad thing; should Anakin ever fall to the Dark Side, Vader knows that she will be able to save the boy.

It is Vader's job, however, to ensure that Anakin does _not _fall to the Dark Side. If there is one thing that his life has taught him, it's that he cannot allow himself to follow the path of death and destruction.

"Since this clearly isn't working," Anakin says with no small measure of disgust, "can you tell me what I need to do to make it better?"

Vader is, in that instant, very proud. Anakin is arrogant and vain, just as much as any teenage boy has been, is, or will be; to admit that he needs help speaks volumes not only of how far he is coming in the process of self-reflection, but also that he is wrong...which, as Vader remembers all too well, is a very bitter pill to swallow.

"In all honesty, you're not doing anything wrong. I'm just a really bad target to practice on, since you wouldn't be able to mind-trick me in my sleep." The lie goes unnoticed by both of them, as Vader ignores the voice that tells him of how he fell to the boy's almighty power only a few moments ago. He cannot be afraid of his past self, or of his past. He can't afford to fear his pupil's burgeoning power over the Force that will one day rival Darth Vader's own.

Fear is the path to the Dark Side, he knows, and it is a path he can walk no longer.

* * *

Vader curses under his breath, and does it violently. "Throw away your inhibitions. Forget your dreams. Feel the Force flow through you and snap the chain."

_Snapping the chain_ is a term that Vader uses to relate to Anakin; _break free_, it means._ Unleash the power of the Force_.

He might as well have just said to leave none of their enemies alive, since the effect was the same. Anakin seems to glow with a blue-white color, for a few moments, as the Force around him is condensed enough to be made visible; with a roar, the energy wall blasts everything away with the force of the Imperial Star Destroyers that the Padawan will hopefully never see.

Anakin pants, collapsing to his knees, and continues to gather the Force for another blow. Vader's lightsaber sweeps up, intercepting the vibro-axe that one of the slavers is using, and the Padawan rolls away as his teacher lowers the power setting on his blade; plasma spews from it as the vibro-axe drops to the ground, and then a blue flame. Both etch themselves into the alien-man's skin, and he screams before Vader beheads him with a blade made purely of the Force. The lightsaber is back in nanoseconds, to bisect another pirate at the waist, and Vader can't spare the time to look at his apprentice.

Anakin isn't doing too great, but that's not entirely his fault; seven-to-one odds is hardly playing fair, after all, even when he just took out three of them...though, as he slams his blue lightsaber into the ground, he paralyzes them in the air. After a few quick strokes, char-fleshed corpses fall to the ground.

The operation had been going so well, too! They'd infiltrated the slaver ship, gained the trust of the captain and crew...two of three steps down the line, though, was when things had gone to Bantha fodder. They were supposed to rescue the captive Jedi, and only the Jedi, but Anakin had let his emotions trump the mission objective. He'd tried to free them all, the big-hearted moron that he was, despite knowing that it wouldn't be possible.

And, so, they fought. Marik Trull, the Jedi they'd been trying to rescue, battled with them. Though the human Knight is not on par with Anakin's level of Force mastery, he's certainly a few shades better at lightsaber dueling; one by one, the slavers died...until, at last, the only one left is the captain; she is a Dago'shi, characterized by gold-yellow skin and indigo eyes, along with four arms and a bony head that could grow no hair. She lunges with two vibro-axes, firing twin blasters as well, but her assault is all for naught...Anakin and Marik redirect the blaster shots to her eyes, blinding her, and Vader delivers the finishing blow from behind her back: a downward cut that splits her in half from the neck down.

They leave the slaves behind, much to Anakin's outrage.

"It is not the Jedi way."

"What do you mean, it's 'not the Jedi way?' We're the protectors of the galaxy, the innocent, we're the ones who uphold peace and justice!"

"The Republic is in no danger of falling, Anakin, nor has it been for thousands of years. Justice is meted out by the Galactic Senate and the Chancellor." Vader explains darkly, his teeth grit and his scowl present, warning Anakin that he's crossed a line here. "We protect those we can, and those who ask for it. And of those slaves, I can guarantee that not all of them are innocent. Very few, in all likelihood. Most of them earned their slavery with deeds unpunishable by any other sentence in the Outer Rim territories."

Never before has Vader questioned his formal way of speaking, that he took after donning the black armor that kept him alive, but he pities the boy when they have to be in situations like this; it sounds like he's admonishing Anakin more than he needs to, and he knows from experience that that's not a good thing.

* * *

Anakin's disgrace in front of the Council leaves a bitter taste in Vader's mouth, and not much can make it better. He's contacted Maul again, sending the Sith assassin to do some fearmongering in a few of the systems not quite within Coruscant's immediate reach; it's a quick job, likely bloodless, and the Galactic Senate must respond to the presence of the Sith even more than the Jedi Council...Vader has never been particularly gifted at manipulating multiple people, however, so he'll simply use Maul until the assassin's purpose is ended.

Padmé is with him. While her younger version has wholly embraced the royal name of Amidala, his former wife has chosen her familial name of Naberrie...though, between the two of them, they know that she is a Skywalker as much as anything else.

"Anakin..."

He looks at her, blue finding brown, and his smile is enough to melt her heart. It's wide and full, and he pulls his wife closer to him so that she can experience it better; their kiss is deep, and she reclines as he follows.

They break away for a few seconds.

"I love you." They say, together, before scenes of a certain unavailable fiction rating take place. Perhaps they'll be allowed to be written in another decade or so, but the imagination is a powerful tool.

Once they are done, lying in a bed that Vader remembers both from his past and present lives, a nightmare happens that should not. Shmi is safe, here on Coruscant, working at some restaurant or another; she can't be dying now. Who would get to her? How could she-

He wakes, lightsaber thrumming to life in his hands as he lunges forward...only to pin a man to the wall, rather than run him through. Padmé, mercifully, remains asleep; he would know this man, this intruder, anywhere.

"Palpatine."

"Yes, Master Skywalker. If you would be so kind as to remove your blade from beside my head, I might tell you the news that I have brought."

It's about Anakin, then.

Shit.

After Vader gets up, from his position, Palpatine looks him dead in the eye. "I know who you are, and what you are trying to do."

So it's not about Anakin, then.

Shit.

"You are the secret Dark Lord that Maul spoke of, the one who would supplant me as the leader of the Sith, eliminate me from the Rule of Two. Even now, you hope to use my own apprentice to draw me out of hiding and destroy me...but two can play at that game."

So it _is _about Anakin.

Shit.

"But I have no...loved ones...for you to target. The only one you can move against is me, and me alone, and you can't do that openly." Force damn him, he needs to get to the point already. "Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of you."

The lightning is almost too quick, almost reaches Padmé, but Vader is stronger than Palpatine knows. After the lightning is redirected, and the hit taken by Vader himself, he thanks the Force for not keeping him confined in his machinery; he is alive, strong, and ready to

Sidious' hate is great and terrifying, to most, but there is no power in the galaxy or the universe that can stop the almighty wrath of Darth Vader; blue eyes turn a red-rimmed yellow, tanned skin pales to pasty white, and his right hand raises with a vengeful Force Choke in mind...but, unintentionally, Palpatine also begins to bleed. The liquid drips from his tear ducts, his nose, his ears, the corners of his mouth, and even his fingernails. In all likelihood, it's running from his toes and ruining his expensive boots as well.

"You will not touch her." He commands, with all the authority he once held as the Dark Lord. "Or even deign to look at her. I will kill you otherwise, all consequences be damned...now get out of my sight."

He throws the Chancellor through the open window, though he somehow knows that the man has the luck (or, possibly, the power over the Force) to remain safe. He's infuriating that way...but the man has revealed himself, and Vader will play his game; he must be the one who brings balance and order to the Force, and that's not something he can just give to the Council. At least, not until the Clone Wars.

Vader's eyes and skin return to their normal color as he returns to bed, and he wraps his arms around Padmé as tightly as he can without hurting her. The Republic is just as frightening as it ever was, with all its politics and underhandedness and constant lies; it almost makes him nostalgic for the Empire and its tyranny, or envious of his children. They had it easy: anyone who wasn't your friend, by default, was your enemy. The lines were clear, cut and dried, and he misses the sense of security that they brought.

Even as he drifts back to sleep with thoughts of how to better train Anakin, or to save the Republic, or even of what his children will be like in this new reality, a single intake of breath in front of him is all he needs to remember why this political torture is worth every second.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm really tempted to make Star Fox jokes as I write these chapters, you know...but I'm gonna save those for later, in a space-based chapter that's somewhere in the very near future. At this point, you know the words that come next: let's get this trainwreck moving!**

* * *

He's not sure exactly what happened, but Anakin knows that something changed about his master. The man is more cautious and secluded, as if mentally preparing himself for something. The scar on his brow seems to stand out when he crosses his arms, when he's angered by something, which it never has before. Odd words make him tense, his jaw clenching or his arms seizing up. Sometimes, if his brother is absolutely enraged, he sees the warm blue eyes flash to a sickly and evil yellow...but he believes it to be his imagination, because there's no way his master could actually be a Sith Lord. Even if he _does _have a red lighsaber.

Vader has taught the boy almost everything he knows about the Light Side of the Force, and the apprenticeship is almost at its end; Anakin is almost ready to become a Jedi Knight in his own right. All he needs is just a little more patience, a little less anger...and a lot more faith in the Jedi Order. The only people Anakin trusts, outside of Vader, seem to be Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Yoda, and the Chancellor.

Anakin has forgotten the original intent of his mission in befriending Palpatine, after so long, and sees the man as his closest ally...even more than his own brother, or the Jedi who managed to get him his freedom. It's not all that surprising; the Jedi are closed-off in their thoughts, and can only teach him so much about the galaxy without inflicting their philosophical view upon him. Palpatine offers the chance to learn of other worlds and peoples, the wonders and the horrors of the galaxy that the Jedi aren't likely to allow him to see or hear of. He learns of great histories, like that of the galaxy before there was a Republic; the great war between the Sith and the Jedi which waged for almost a thousand years before the supposed elimination of the Sith and the joining of the Galactic Republic...it's a tale to fascinate and amaze, and Anakin knows every word for the truth.

Perhaps that is Vader's past-self's greatest flaw, Anakin's ultimate weakness, rather than his anger: he believes almost anything that a trusted person tells him, so long as it doesn't clash with his beliefs or brings harm to someone he cares about.

The boy is violent, incredibly so, and Vader knows just how much that will be needed in the coming years; the Clone Wars will soon be at hand, and preparation is necessary...he only wishes that the boy could have been spared, that his anger-fueled tendencies might have had a chance to cool.

* * *

"There has been an attempt made on Senator Naberrie's life. Master Skywalker, you and your Padawan are to go as an extra security detail to protect her."

"With all due respect, Master Windu, would that not simply draw attention and more possible assassins?"

"What are you suggesting?" The brown-skinned Master questions, sincerely wondering.

"I believe that Anakin is ready for the trials of becoming a Jedi Knight. Allow me to take this assassination matter alone, and give Anakin a chance to prove himself to you in the same way that he has to me."

"Ready, he is not...but dire these circumstances are, where again do the Sith walk among us. Take the mission alone you may, but stay in the Temple your Padawan must. Until ready he is, face the trials he will not."

"Done." Both Skywalkers say together, as if reading the other's mind. Vader wants to go so that he can remain close to Padmé, while Anakin wants to stay so that he can prove himself worthy of the title of a Jedi Knight...not to mention that it will give him the chance to sneak away, unsupervised, to see his mother for the first time in a few months. Maybe he'll even manage to slip her a few hundred credits or so, to make her life easier and allow her to move out from the second-rate apartment she lives in.

It's not the Jedi way, as Vader might say, but what use to him are the Jedi when he can help his family? She is his mother, and no amount of training in the Force will be able to destroy that bond. He will do anything for her, without limit, because she is the one who brought him to the galaxy and raised him.

And then there's Padmé, _his _Padmé, back on Naboo...but he can't see her now, so it's best not to think about her. That will only bring regret and disappointment, which he can't have if he's going to face the trials of becoming a Jedi Knight; all that can be on his mind is emptiness, the void of thought and emotion that is the Force.

* * *

They're together again for the first time in a month, and Vader couldn't be happier. He remembers this scenario much differently from the way that it's playing out now, and he's glad for that; Padmé nearly died the last time this happened, in their original timeline...unless this wasn't the first time that history had repeated itself, but he tends to stay away from that train of thought because of how his mind will wander. He needs to keep his focus, though such a thing is difficult when he's with the one person he's ever loved in his life. Her presence fills him with joy after so many years without her, even though he's had her back for more than ten years, and he doesn't want that to change; she's intoxicating, exhilarating, and he won't let anyone or anything take that away from him.

He's troubled during the nights, though. Visions plague him just as much as they ever have, and they're just as pain-laden as before. He dreams of his mother and her death, though something has changed; rather than sensing that she feels joy shortly before her death, there is only shock and fear. He also dreams of his son in the future-that-is-not, or perhaps simply a different future...the boy became a man whose life was filled with just as much tragedy as his father's, if not more. His beautiful wife killed by a Sith Lord, Vader's grandson by Leia...and then he is sent into exile, accompanied by a boy who must be his own son. More dreams are of a descendant much further down the line, who faces a situation where the Jedi are all but extinct and the Sith rule the Galaxy.

Tragedy loves to follow the Skywalker line, it seems, and he doesn't dare mention the visions to Padmé. He has a chance to prevent them, to make them null and void; it's his job to simply try his hand at preventing that terrible future, he knows...or, rather, he guesses that that's his purpose. His own life doesn't matter, not even to him, but he will do everything in his power to prevent a darkness-filled fate for his descendants. That's what being a father is about, isn't it? Protecting the future for your children, and their children, and so on?

He thinks about those things at night, but during the day he returns to his all-business manner of doing things. It's not very easy, and there have been more difficult things that he's done with less trouble...but he manages it, all the same, because it is what he must do. He waits on her and for her, protects her in silence and with laughter, hiding his troubles and his problems all the while; he refuses to admit to himself that he needs to tell her about what Palpatine tried to do two and a half years ago, about Anakin's steadily-increasing capacity for violence and anger. He won't even to admit to himself that he has visions of Padmé's death at Anakin's hands, because he knows that he will kill his apprentice in cold blood before that ever happens...and damn the consequences.

* * *

Shmi Skywalker is a kind and a patient woman; when she receives a large roll of credits from her "younger" son, she gives them away to those who need them more. It's what she always did: give to others before you take for herself. She didn't truly need the money, in all honesty, as anything is better than her former life as a slave. She needs very little, and wants for even less; she only wishes that she saw her sons more, but knows that she should be grateful even for their once- or twice-a-month visits, given how busy they are.

She works at a small bar-and-casino...and Anakin is there one night, though he's not doing much. Since it's such a popular destination, despite its small size, he's on the lookout for his brother's wife's assassin. Just in case they show up and happen to reveal themselves, that is. Otherwise, he's _really _doing nothing.

He doesn't know how it happens, and doesn't really care. One moment the two alien-men are calm, then arguing, and now they've drawn blasters that are aimed at the other. Shmi is trying to calm them down, and one of them knocks her aside (that is, halfway across the fine and reputable establishment,) with a wave. Anakin draws his lightsaber, stepping in front of the duo, trying to ward them off with the Jedi reputation, but they know he's no more than an apprentice because he still has a braid...and they mock him for it, challenging him to swing at them.

One aims his blaster at Shmi, and Anakin's face sets like cement; he warns them to leave her out of it, that she's no part of this, that they need to take their fight outside if they're actually going to act like children.

Both of them aim their guns at him, firing in rapid succession. Anakin feels at peace, and then there's a massive displacement of the Force as someone makes Shmi move. Her body is a shield, and does its job superbly; one bolt strikes her forehead, and the other melts her throat. As she crumples to the ground, Anakin does what comes naturally to him: he grips his lightsaber with both hands and gives strength to the most powerful slash that he's ever executed. Both thugs fall, their heads separated from their shoulders, and Anakin is deaf to the screams, numb to the smell of burning flesh, unaware of the hands that grab at his shoulders and pull him from the scene. He doesn't register anything until he takes in Chancellor Palpatine's concerned face, telling him that he needs to go back to the Jedi Temple.

On the long hovercraft ride back to the Temple, he vents his anger, fear, and frustration to the patient Chancellor. How he feels that his brother's teaching is holding back, despite the thought that Vader's doing all he can to help train Anakin. That the Jedi Council doesn't trust him, and how they fear him instead. His rage and grief at the death of his mother, and the question of what he'll do now that she's gone. He's a mental and emotional wreck, angry and hateful and _scared_, knowing that there's no way he can be ready for the Jedi trials if he can't take the trauma of death.

There is no death, there is the Force...so why does he feel so empty, so hollow and alone?

* * *

"It's an old Tatooine tradition to be buried in the desert sands where there's no civilization, and to be grieved for in that same place." Vader says solemnly, his eyes harder than stone and his posture militarily rigid. "And for your family to be there with you as you're buried. Some people even ask that their family dig the graves themselves. Our mother will be laid to rest on her home world, and I will have no objections raised to this. I will take Senator Naberrie with us, so that I may still protect her as my role requires. Thank you, Masters, and I bid that you have a good day. May the Force be with you."

He turns around, his boots practically slamming into the metal of the floor as he does a rolling march from the chamber, and only when he is out of sight of the room does he unleash his fury into one of the stone walls; the lightning dissipates against the stone, not even leaving a char-mark, and he moves on.

The journey will not be pleasant for anyone involved, least of all Anakin. Vader has lived through his mother's death once before, and can handle it better...partially because he wasn't there this time. Padmé, though she is not truly affected by Shmi Skywalker's death, will be forced to endure the presence of two grieving men with penchants for violence; there's no guarantee that either will be safe from the other. Anakin has convinced himself, in no small part because of the Chancellor, that he subconsciously pulled his mother from her place in order to save his own life. He blames himself for her death, for not simply dying and leaving her with her "better" son...his thoughts grow ever darker as he continues down his life's road.

The most painful thing for Vader, however, is the look on Palpatine's face when Anakin and Padmé have already entered the ship. The man has his back to the Council members seeing them off, and only Vader can view his expression or hear his words. Gleefully, and yet somehow morbidly, the secretive Sith Lord whispers.

"I told you that I could make you hurt."


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, I'm finally updating. I find it kind of funny that I didn't manage to split AOTC into three chapters, since it's the longest of the six, but I don't really care about it; I _did _give you guys some insight into Anakin's training, after all.**

**This means that we're officially back on track for the nine- or ten-chapter idea...probably nine, though.**

**It also just kinda hit me that even though Vader doesn't have his suit, I'm using his too-formal speech patterns and I'm still hearing his voice as Vader's instead of Anakin's in order to keep them separate in my mind.**

**Let's get this trainwreck moving.**

* * *

"Blood to dust, iron to rust...let your spirit fly free with the desert wind, and your body return itself to the sands from whence it came. Blood of my blood, great mother mine, I will mourn your passing with each and every day."

Lies, Anakin knows. Her spirit is one with the Force, or so the Jedi would say, and her body is going to be eaten by the giant worms who make the desert their home...but the ceremony itself seems sacred to his elder brother; perhaps the man had gotten along with their mother much better than Anakin thought, or maybe the Jedi were just real sticklers for honor and tradition and stuff like that. Either one was just as likely.

"As the people of Tatooine are born, they come forth from the sand. Every storm is just another birth, another spirit which howls with new and renewed life. As the people of Tatooine die, so do they return to the sand. Each death brings forth a new chance for discovery in the self and the worlds around us, creating equality. In death a master is no better or worse than their slave, and in death even a slave may find freedom."

Yes, the freedom of death. Great and inspiring words, the younger Skywalker thought, that they could be so awful and yet delivered with such solemn severity as to seem no more than dogmatic. How amazing; perhaps Vader would read a poem as well?

"Return to the world that is yours and always was, a world you knew with all your heart and soul. Goodbye, mother."

Anakin left the Jedi Master with his wife, as Vader was staring at the spot where they'd buried Shmi. He needed to destroy something, and he could feel a large amount of Force energy radiating to the south; they were raiders, in all likelihood, and that fact made sure that he wasn't even bothered about considering whether or not to kill them as brutally as he could.

"Anakin." The voice makes him whip his head around, tears stinging his eyes and flying from his face as he does, but all he sees is the face of a concerned elder brother and sister-in-law. "I know what you are thinking, but mindless violence will not solve anything. If it did, then you would not have gotten involved in that barfight and our mother wouldn't have been killed."

"Because of me?" Anakin roars, the Force projected with his voice and sending Vader back for several steps. "You're blaming me!"

"I never said that." Vader's expression does not falter, or his voice raise in volume.

"You implied it!"

"No. The two events happened, but correlation does not imply causation."

"DON'T START SPOUTING YOUR _BULLSHIT_ AT ME!"

Anakin draws his lightsaber and charges, fully intent on venting his rage with destruction...even if it would leave him alone for the rest of his life. Vader simply raises his hand with two fingers, as is his trademark Force Choke technique, and waits.

"You will silence yourself. You will deactivate your lightsaber. You will acknowledge that you were in the wrong. If you _ever _dare to lift your blade against me again..." There is no mistaking the open threat in Vader's words; the simple act of choking Anakin is proof enough that even though Vader has taught Anakin everything that he knows, Vader himself hasn't even begun to reveal the depths of his own knowledge. "...then I will not hesitate to cut you down, brother and fellow Jedi or not. There is no room for discussion on this. We are clear."

Anakin passes out from a lack of oxygen, and Vader lets his technique go.

"You shouldn't have done that..." Padmé admonishes him, but he doesn't care.

"He has gone to long as a loose cannon, Padmé. Someone needs to reel him in and stop him from becoming what I turned into, and if that must be me then so be it. I fight for one reason only: to protect you."

"Have you noticed that we haven't aged since we came back?" She says, attempting to change the subject to one that he can't argue about. As tempted as he is to ignore it, and continue his airy tirade, he knows that she has a point.

"Are you suggesting that we no longer age, or something else entirely?"

"I don't know. It just seems strange."

Seeing that she hasn't really had a point, he sighs. "We should probably head to...whatever that system was. I think? Since there's going to be a battle, and all of that? I would not want to miss the beginning of the Clone Wars. We could even pick up your younger self along the way!"

"You're insane, and I love you."

"You are insane for that, and so do I."

* * *

All that Vader can smell is death. It surrounds him, and envelops him, and he welcomes it like the old friend that it is. He can taste iron, the blood of the dead, in his mouth; it's the blood of his comrades, his friends and allies...but he can't be distracted. He's plowing through the droids, cutting a swath straight through them for others to follow. More than once does he use some subtle power of the Force, frying the delicate wiring inside of the battle droids or making them shoot one another.

He and Obi-Wan are suddenly back-to-back, whirling blades around in perfect harmony with one another. It's just like when they were on Kessel, in his original time, and this newer Obi-Wan has done remarkably well for having no knowledge of the routine. Anakin is with both versions of Padmé, doing his best to protect them while they cover him with their blasters.

That's when Yoda arrives, with his crew of clones, and Vader knows that it's now or never; Dooku, Darth Tyrannus, is escaping. If he survives, then the Clone Wars will continue for almost four more years until Anakin falls entirely under Palpatine's grip...but if he dies, then that may just speed up the process.

"Obi-Wan, Anakin, Padmé, with me!" He shouts, using the Force to magnify his voice. They flock to him like moths to a flame, and together they board the ship where Yoda and Mace Windu stand.

"Masters." Vader says. "Count Dooku has done worse than simply leave the Jedi Order. He has become a Sith."

"We know, Master Skywalker." Mace Windu replies, his face giving nothing away. "And that's why we're going after him. The Queen and the Senator are to be drop-shipped back to Coruscant, away from the fighting, along with the remaining Jedi and the captured Separatists. Yoda and I will pursue this...Darth Tyrannus."

"With all due respect, Master Windu, I must insist that I be the one to go. And, should that be denied, then I request that I join you."

"Denied the second is, Master Skywalker." Yoda says, in his familiarly strange way of speaking. "But permissable as well is the first. Count Dooku you must challenge, if your feelings tell you so, but know that on your shoulders lies the responsibility for failure and success."

"Thank you, Master Yoda. I promise, I will not disappoint you."

"May the Force be with you." Windu says, placing a hand on Vader's shoulder. "And with us all."

* * *

Amid the thunder of blasters, the volleys of rockets and missiles being fired from both sides, two speeders race. The Sith in black flees across the desert, and the Chosen One follows; as good as Count Dooku is, since he'd had years to learn the various basics of piloting machines, he can't come anywhere near Vader's level. Darth Vader had a lifetime of experience in dealing with ships, fighters, speeders, racers, and all other kinds of mechanical beasts, and he retains that experience now. Being raised as a slave in a machine shop tends to do that...and it allows Vader to sit back and remember a simpler time, when all that he wanted was to win a podrace and get enough money to free himself and his mother. Instead, it started him down a journey of darkness that he was still struggling to escape from; even now, he had difficulty in refusing the power of the Dark Side.

It's probably because he'd spent almost thirty years steeping himself in it, but that just isn't the point.

He uses the Force to maximize his speed, and then begins to push it further by shutting down the safety protocol that was ingrained into its data banks. He's easily moving at twice Dooku's speed, and should catch him in seconds; there's a cave ahead, one that they will fight in...if the Sith can actually make it there in time, which he doesn't. Vader rams his speeder into the back of Dooku's, sending the elderly man flying from his seat, and pilots his vehicle to where his enemy is beginning to get up.

"Your life ends here, Darth Tyrannus. You have done enough damage to the Republic for a thousand people, and I will bring you to justice."

"That's not the Jedi way, boy, and we both know it."

Blue eyes freeze, locking on the black of Dooku's, and turn yellow. "Who said anything about the Jedi? I am doing this for myself."

Lightning flies from four hands, though Vader's black energy is clearly superior to Tyrannus' grip on the Force. Once the volley of electricity stops, and ozone fills the air, Vader's right hand raises in his signature chokehold while he levitates the Count off of the ground.

"I am Darth Vader, the true Dark Lord of the Sith. Your only way out of this situation is to submit to me and enter my command as an apprentice, just as Darth Maul before you."

"I killed that traitorous scum while I still had the chance." Dooku says, spitting the words, using up the air with a speech that he doesn't realize to be his last. "Just as Palpatine will kill you!" After the words have left his mouth, he realizes the gravity of what he's said and accepts his fate. There's no way that he'll be spared now, and Darth Sidious would have him executed for revealing his true identity.

"Well, Count Dooku, that was certainly enlightening. It is a good thing that I know how to edit holotapes to wipe out all but that information that you just gave me...now, if you would please, die in peace."

The flash of a massive red-bladed lightsaber is the last thing that Dooku sees before his death, and he doesn't even register that his end is already through. After going back to the fallen speeder and scrapping it for parts, Vader manages to edit out every image and sound from the holotape except Dooku's face as he effectively proclaims Palpatine to be the Sith Lord that the Jedi Order has been hunting for more than ten years. Now that Vader has proof, and not simply the knowledge of the past, he can bring it before the Jedi Council and they can make their move.

* * *

"Masters, one and all, I have called a Council meeting to bring new evidence to light in the search for the Sith Lord. If Count Dooku was to be believed, and I felt no attempt in him to lie, then this holotape will give us our answer."

_"I killed that traitorous scum while I still had the chance. Just as Palpatine will kill you!"_

There was no mistaking the looks of shock on each of the Council members' faces, save for Yoda's; the Grand Master is from the future, however, so he would have already known and decided to simply waited events out...but now that evidence has been supplied, he can't choose the option of letting history run its course again. It's time, once and for all, to destroy the Dark Side.


	7. Chapter 7

**The ideas wouldn't leave me, so I decided to leave them by writing another chapter. What will you guys say to this chapter? It's not technically ROTS, but I figure that it has to happen with the way that AOTC ended.**

**Let's get this trainwreck moving.**

* * *

The silence in the chamber of Masters is deafening; they now have evidence, albeit of the circumstantial kind, with which to arrest and charge Palpatine. Their greatest hopes, and fears, have been reached...just as they discover that there was a real and true Dark Lord of the Sith, the leader of an order that was supposed to have been destroyed a lifetime ago, they know that they have the power to destroy him. The only problem is, he's the most politically powerful man in the galaxy; he is in charge of the entire Galactic Army, clone troopers and all, and he won't be afraid to use it.

"Disturbing this news is," Yoda begins, "but act on it we must."

"The Chancellor called an emergency session of congress just a few hours ago. The optimum time to strike would be when they are let out." Mace Windu says.

"Agreed." Obi-Wan speaks up.

"Who should go?" Vader raises the question.

"Master Skywalker. You and I together shall the Sith strike down. Prepared, are you?"

Vader knew that the suggestion was coming, but he didn't know that Yoda would be the one to voice it; his surprise is palpable, but he calms quickly. "Not quite yet, but it will not take long."

"Then dismissed this meeting of the Council of Masters is."

"May the Force be with us all." The words echo throughout the hall, and Vader can't help but find it a little funny.

He was born of the Force, his midi-chlorians being drawn together to create his fatherless birth. He had been strong in the Force and its abilities since before he knew what the Force was. It was the Force that had allowed him to be freed from slavery, to rise through the ranks of the Jedi more quickly than any before him, and to fall in love. It was the Force that had given him his children, and the Force that had stripped them from him when he fell. It was the Force that had made him lose everything that had ever been important to him, and the Force had been the very thing to give it all back to him before his death and reincarnation. There was no need to pray that the Force be with him; it was always with him.

He _was_ the Force.

His head held high, he heads toward his personal chamber in the Temple; inside of its rarely-used space sits a machine with a table on it, and on that table is a suit of black that he'd hoped never to don again...but he'd created it for a reason, and that reason is nigh. As the machine does its work, he idly notes that he'd remembered to make all the inner materials out of the same as his right gauntlet; he is now fireproof, pain-resistant, unable to be poisoned, and encased in near-indestructible armor. As his breathing returns to the agonizingly familiar suck-hiss, the drop-in and blast-out way of taking air to his no-longer-damaged lungs, he can't help but feel more than a little nostalgic. He is Darth Vader, the suit and he are one. The Sith Alchemy used to create the suit is his, and his alone, unlike when Palpatine forged it in his past lifetime.

"The time has come for Palpatine to be overthrown."

He walks out, meeting Yoda by the front of the Temple and walking with the green humanoid. They move forward with purpose, though it's a grave and terrible one.

* * *

"Darth Sidious, I hereby arrest you in the name of the Galactic Senate and the Jedi Order. You do not have the right to an attorney. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a galactic trial. If you do not resist, your sentencing may be more lenient."

"Is that so, my good man?" Palpatine sneers. "Well then, by all means, arrest me." His lightsaber slides out from his sleeve, and he ignites it with a cold smirk. "You look like a Sith yourself, in that black suit of armor. Perhaps you're the infamous Darth Vader my apprentices spoke of?"

"I am."

"Then why do you not side with me? We are brothers in arms, and the Rule of Two allows it."

"You have corrupted the ideals of the Sith. We stood for emotional freedom of expression, stood watch to prevent oppressive tyranny from encroaching upon the ideals and beliefs of the Republic and its people. The Rule of Two was implemented to prevent that sort of corruption from happening, and yet Plagueis still managed to derail that train of strict morality. Today marks the day that the Sith and the Jedi become a single Order once again, and your death will be its commemorative feast."

Six feet of red light springs forth from the hilt of Vader's blade, nearly doubling the length of Palpatine's lightsaber, and the Sith looks on in no small amount of fear as the black-armored monster walks. Behind the helm, yellow eyes call forth the power of the Dark Side; Sidious manages to avoid the choke, speaking volumes of his power, and fires back with lightning from his free hand. It's the standard sort of blue lightning, and incredibly deadly to the functions of the suit, so Vader chooses to counter with his own black tendrils of electric power. He turns down the power setting of the crystal inside of his blade, and that's when six feet of crackling flames join the lightning strikes; the Force pushes Vader's fiery not-blade out, beginning a conflagration that slowly spreads.

The fire eats through stone and carpet as though it were acid, but Sidious himself remains unharmed. Both of them finally let up from casting their lightning, more concerned with the growing consumption of the room; it's a duel to the death, though one that Vader isn't afraid of, and as he fights he begins singing to himself. It's a song with words, though those lyrics have been lost to time for generations, and it comes to his mind unbidden...it is the song of a new hope, of a man who fights for what is right. It is the song of the Old Republic, and those knights who protected it.

It ends, and an imperial march begins. Lightsabers fly, clashing and crashing together, humming and thrumming with the power of the Force. Vader is naturally faster, but Sidious is using the Force to improve his reflexes and reaction time; it manages to even out the difference in their speed, or at least allow Sidious to take advantage of the few openings in Vader's form...not that there are many, after close to fifty years of constant practice between his two styles. The Sith duel, their blades seeming to shake the fiery ground beneath them, and only one will emerge as the true Dark Lord.

Or, at least, that's how things were supposed to go; as Anakin leaps through the broken window, off of his speeder, he snarls. "This is treason!"

"No, Skywalker. This is justice, and an ancient tradition. If you will protect him, be prepared to die for him...because you _will _die for him. I will not hesitate to strike you down."

The red blade of Darth Vader slams against his younger incarnation's blue, and he knows that he'll need to use his Sith style to triumph.

"Master Yoda!" He calls, and the green humanoid comes leaping through the burning doorframe with his similarly-colored lightsaber blazing.

"If this is how it's going to be, then it'll be over quickly. I'll take the black one, Chancellor, if you'll bring down Yoda!" Anakin shouts.

Anakin slashes, though his attack is blocked lazily, and it's only a feat of raw precognition that allows him to limbo under Vader's blade...but he can't avoid the gauntlet that slams into his nose in the instant he snaps back up, and his jaw shatters with no small amount of audibility. His scream is raw and primal, pained, and Vader knows his chance when he sees it; as Anakin writhes in pain, Vader moves to join his attack with Yoda's in an unblockable pincer that will cut Sidious down.

He misjudges Anakin's desire to keep Palpatine alive, however, and pays for it; his head is nearly taken off by the blow from behind, and he's forced to break off from attacking the Sith in order to block the blue lightsaber's assault. It's a shame, too, as Yoda has lost his upper hand in the battle and is now on the defensive.

"Your dedication is admirable, if misplaced. Allow me to show you the error of your ways."

"The Jedi have betrayed the Chancellor. They've betrayed the Republic." The Force is all that allows Anakin's words, spoken as they are through a shattered jaw, to be comprehensible.

"One corrupt politician is not the Republic. Killing a Sith Lord is the exact opposite of betrayal. If anything, Skywalker, you are the one who is a traitor. You have betrayed your Order, your friends, the Republic, your master, your brother, your emotions, your love, and even the memory of your mother."

The floor collapses, and Yoda falls through; Vader is now faced with fighting Sidious and Anakin at once, alone, and it's not a thought that he relishes...but it's what he will do, because he must do it. His blade sings, cutting through the air with a sharp buzzing sound, and there is no mercy in his mind as he begins the rampage of violence that would have been typical of him in a previous life. Anakin's pride is no match for Vader's wrath, for the savage killer that perfected the art of slaying Jedi. If he is going to die, and he very well might, then he will do his sworn duty as the Chosen One and destroy the Dark Side of the Force.

One, two, three; Anakin's lightsaber is deactivated, cut in half, and half of his right arm is sliced off before instantly cauterizing. Four, and a superficial diagonal slash burns its way into the fallen Jedi's chest. Five is blocked by Sidious, and both of them deactivate their blades. Vader launches his signature black lightning from his right hand, choking the pair of them as he moves closer, and his words are spoken without a hint of mercy or pity. "Now, at long last, I will triumph. Die, and may the netherworld of the Force torment you for eternity!"

He throws them out of the shattered window using the Force, but can't watch their descent to ascertain that they're dead; he needs to get Yoda to safety, assuming that the green creature is still alive, and recover the body if the Grand Master proves to be deceased.

* * *

Vader bursts into his wife's room, finding her safe and asleep; as an extra precaution, however, he carries her in his arms while Yoda's barely-living form rests on his back. He doesn't miss the flash of yellow eyes from the dark corner, but knows that Anakin won't do anything...after all, that would only mean that his own love would be killed. Evil and twisted by the Dark Side as Anakin was, he was still a man of honor. It was a battle between Jedi and Sith, not husbands using wives as bait and hostages.

It was with a heavy heart that he left his former apprentice, the not-quite-former self who had been as a brother and a son...but battles would come, and he would slay the boy with his own two hands if he needed to.

When Padmé is safe in Vader's personal Temple chamber, and Yoda in the infirmary, he calls the Council of Masters.

"As you all know, Master Yoda and I led an assault on Chancellor Palpatine. We confirmed that he was the Sith Lord and I engaged him. My former apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, came to Lord Sidious' aid and Yoda was forced to take over my battle with him so that I could engage Skywalker. Skywalker and the Chancellor escaped, and Yoda was critically injured during the battle. There is a fairly high chance that he will die."

There's open shock on many faces. Yoda has been a near-permanent fixture in the Jedi Order for close to a thousand years; there isn't actually a way for him to die other than naturally, is there?

There is, unfortunately, and his name is Darth Sidious.

"I accept full responsibility for the condition that Master Yoda is in. Had I gotten here soon enough, his situation would not be as dire as it is now...but while he recovers, or if he dies, we need to appoint an interim Grand Master to lead the Jedi Order and combat the threat of the Sith."

The air is heavy in the Council chamber, and for good reason: the Sith have returned, and they fully intend to have their revenge.


End file.
